By
Amir Nasr
January 23, 2017 at 2:18 pm ET
The House is set to pass several uncontroversial telecom measures Monday, ranging from a bill that would bolster communications networks during natural disasters to one aimed at improving call reliability in rural areas.
On Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote on five bills that closely mirror some of the House measures. Among the House bills slated to receive a vote Monday, the Senate Commerce Committee will take up S. 96, legislation identical to H.R. 460, the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act.
The Senate panel is also expected to vote Tuesday on legislation that closely tracks with the Anti-Spoofing Act (H.R. 423), the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act (H.R. 290), the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act (H.R. 588) and Kari’s Law Act (H.R. 582).
The Senate versions would need to be reconciled with the House bills before being sent to the White House, and the Senate committee plans to stick with its versions for now.
“At this time, we do not anticipate changing the text of our bills at tomorrow’s markup due to the scheduled House votes,” Senate Commerce Committee spokeswoman Lauren Hammond said in an email.
Here is a summary of the measures moving through the House on Monday and through the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday:
The House passed the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act, the Anti-Spoofing Act and Kari’s Law Act in the 114th Congress, but the bills never received votes on the Senate floor. The Anti-Spoofing Act and Kari’s Law Act were approved by the Senate Commerce Committee as part of a reauthorization package for the FCC in the 114th Congress, but that measure also never reached the Senate floor. The Senate panel in June approved a version of the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act, which did not receive a vote from the full Senate.